Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you all believe the holidays are all ready here? Where does all the time go? Obviously, this is a very special holiday season for our family as it's the first we get to share with our wonderful little guy. To kick off our holiday season we decided to do something really fun. We packed up the kids, loaded the car and headed over to Oglebay Resort to see their Festival of Lights. It was our first overnight trip with Andrew and it went really well. You never know how a baby is going to react to travel and change until you give it a try. I'm happy to report, Andrew did really well and appears to be a good traveler. Between the lights, indoor pool, yummy meals and fun shopping we had a great time.

Here are some pictures of the lights:


I snapped up some adorable Polar Express shirts for the kids and dressed them alike. I think they look like Santa's newest elves!





As we all get super busy during the holiday season, I hope we are able to enjoy the wonderful, relaxing, quiet moments here and there. I also hope we all can remember what we have to be thankfull for. As you all know, I couldn't feel more blessed to have the loving family I have and the two amazing children in my life. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

What a difference a year makes............

One year ago, Bill and I were told that our adoption from Taiwan was an *if*, not a *when.* We went through the holiday season feeling like it was a 50/50 chance of being able to adopt from Taiwan. We also knew that if we didn't get to adopt from Taiwan, there weren't really any other options for us.

Of course you all know that on January 18th of this year our lives changed and Andrew was referred to us. Who doesn't love a happy ending? Yet, I can't help but realize how many friends I have in the adoption community who are struggling to realize their dreams. You may or may not know that the Chinese adoption journey has radically changed since we adopted Lilianna. It used to flucuate between 6-15 months to get a referral once your dossier was sent to China. Sadly now the wait stretches well beyond 2 years and no one knows how long it will get. These poor waiting families are in some marathon race and they keep pushing back the finish line. Vietnam, which had reopened in 06 has shut down again. Many families have invested all their time, money and efforts and will never be able to adopt from Vietnam. Several of them don't have other options either. Taiwan is swamped with applicants and wait times are stretching out for them as well. What used to take 6 months, now is 3 years or more. Again, many families can't afford to renew their paperwork continuously.

It's all such a heartbreak. I've said that all children are worth all the effort it takes to adopt them. That said, it just shouldn't be this hard for families. I know so many fabulous, wonderful, amazing families who will make amazing parents and give wonderful homes to children. Yet they sit their and wait and wait and wait or worse yet.....doors close permanently for them.

It all makes me feel so lucky to have the two children I have. It's like winning the lottery twice. If there's any silver lining in all of the challenges facing adoptive parents today is that you never forget how lucky and blessed you are. Today in the midst of taking care of a sick Lily and running after a very mobile and into everything Andrew, I *still* realize how blessed I am to be the mother of two, amazing, lovable, incredible children.

Does it get any better than this?

Our New Schedule and New Milestones...

This is our first week of our new schedule with me back to working. Honestly, I had anticipated my being out of the house for 2 days a week to present some challenges for all of us. Happily, things have gone more smoothly than I had expected. Lily is loving preschool and continues to thrive there. Bill really enjoys his Mondays and Wednesdays home with the kids. Andrew is eating up all the attention from Daddy and loving it and I'm enjoying the time with my colleagues and students. All in all, not a bad first week back:)

On another note, Andrew has hit some new milestones this week. My job is helpfull and a hinderance as a Mommy sometimes. Sure, I'm aware of developmental milestones and strategies to help children reach them. On the downside, I can overanalyze and over-worry about things. Andrew is now 10 months old and has been with us for 4 months. He's actually ahead of the game in the gross and fine motor department. While social emotional development seems on target, his speech/language development seems a bit behind to me. Now, that totally makes sense given the language change and lack of stimulation in the orphange/foster home. I had been thinking to myself "Gee, I'd like to hear him make some repetitive sounds like 'da-da-da' or 'ba-ba-ba'. I'd also like to see him imitate us more in speech sounds."

Well, apparently Andrew read my mind and just started doing these 2 things this week. He's consistently saying "ba-ba-ba, la-la-la and da-da-da" and will repeat them after us. I *think* he may be getting the idea of Da-da for Bill, La-La for Lily and ba-ba for bottle. I don't know if they are true words yet, but I think he'll get there soon. On a funny note, if I point to Bill and say "Da-Da", Andrew will repeat me. If I point to Lily and say "La-La", he'll repeat that too. If I point to myself and say "Ma-Ma", he'll look right at me and say "Pftttttttt."

I'll leave you all with one my favorite pictures taken professionally:

If I had a magic wand..................

I'd use it make my son stop acting like a goat. Yup, the kid eats anything. I swear Lily only ate food. This little man eats edible and non-edible things alike. We aren't dirty people, but with a 5 year old and some high traffic areas, little
specks of things are bound to be on the carpet. A scrap of art paper, a crayon tip, a pop-tart crumb can be found in our great room. I purchased a Dirt Devil simply for this problem. It sits in the corner of the room and gets used a couple times per day. Still, my son has some strange inner radar that lets him know a crumb or
scrap of something has the carpet and it must be consumed now! I swear if you dropped a button on a football field, Andrew would find it. I've contemplated sprinkling Cheerios on the floor just so he'd get something edible. He's even beginning to consistently respond to "No mouth" Yet, he's also learning to turn his back and quickly stuff the crayon paper in when he thinks I'm not looking. Good to
know at 10 months his deceptive skills are growing. Untill he gets the concept of "we only eat food", I guess I'll keep track of the interesting things he's consummed. So far, the list includes a tiny tip of a crayon and a Chaquita banana sticker. (Yes, I can confirm both items have passed through his system safely.) I guess untill gets the concept that we only eat food, we'll call him Hoover.

Can you believe it's November already?

I sure can't. Time is going by so quickly and this is my last week of leave with Andrew. I start back to work on Friday. Now, I'm not going to sing the back to work blues, because I've been so fortunate to have the time with Andrew and Lily.

On another note, last week I purchased hats and mittens for the kids. This week, I'm contemplating park or zoo trips because it's going to be in the high 60's to low 70's. Go figure!

Happy Halloween!

Wow! What a perfect Trick or Treat Night we had! The weather was glorious, the children were adorable in their costumes and our friends and family's company was a blast. We all gathered at our house and then we headed out through our neighborhood. Andrew enjoyed looking at all the people and sights. While Lily and her good buddies raced excitedly from house to house. This year she really got into it and was thrilled with the haul of candy she brought home. It was just a great time.

Of course, we the parents morphed into Parent Paparazzi and snapped as many photos as we could. I'm quite thrilled with the following three pictures. In fact, I love the third one so much, I'm considering making it our Christmas card. Hey, it's got green and red in it :)

Things you can't protect your children from......

Usually I post the happy, daily events in our family life. Today, I feel the need to post about something not so happy. Today was Lily's preschool Halloween parade. It was a fun event and something we all enjoyed. I happened to volunteer for some of the classroom party activities and was hanging out in the hallways with some other moms. A few moms that I knew asked me about Andrew's eye surgery. I was happy to report that his eyes are looking great and I don't think he'll have to have the additional surgery in January. Another woman, whom I don't know, overheard our conversation. She then asked me if the second surgery would make Andrew's eyes look less "chink-y." Yup, she really said it. I was stunned, startled and angry. I think she thought it was funny because she laughed. When she heard my nasty toned response of "I beg your pardon??", she quickly left saying she needed to make a phone call.

All in all, it was just such a startling reminder that my children will encounter racism and I can't protect them from it. I've fielded some rude questions about our family. Usually they are along the lines of "Why didn't you adopt from the US." or "Are they *real* brother and sister?" These, I know how to handle. The comment today really was a first.

What a week.........

It took me a little restraint in not using a swear word in the title post. Read on and I'll explain.

Saturday afternoon, Andrew comes down with a fever. I figure it's a virus and I watch him closely, thankfull that he is keeping food down.

Sunday, the fever gets worse and we wonder if we should go to urgent care or just wait till Monday and see our pediatrician.

Monday, we call the pediatrician and they say we can wait another 24 hours or come in. We decide to go in and I'm glad we did because Andrew has 2 ear infections. So, we start the antibiotics. Monday night becomes the worst night ever with constant screaming and a fever of 104

Tuesday, I call the pediatrician who tells me to wait 24 hours to see if the antibiotics help. After lunch, I change Andrew only to discover this scary rash all over him. It really looks like measles. Back to the pediatrician we go. One look and the doctor says, "Roseola", a virus characterized by a high fever and sudden rash.

Wednessday, Andrew is worse. Fever persists, rash is in full bloom, antibiotic side effects are rough and his disposition is at an all time low. I call the pediatrician who tells me to wait it out. It's rough.

Thursday, fever is gone. However, so Andrew's appetite. He's weepy, whiney, clingy and miserable. Another diaper change reveals a new and different rash. Off to the ped's again! At this point, I'm toast. I'm tired and running on empty. I'm also just plain scared that Andrew is not getting better. The doctor's examination reveals that his ears are better. His lungs are clear. His fever is gone. The doctor thinks that we are either looking at a different type of virus or some strange interaction between the antibiotics and virus. In either case, we'll change the antibiotics and see.

I'm now on day 5 of a weepy, miserable, sick little baby. As I give him yet another dropper of medicine to put in his little mouth, my finger bumps into something sharp. I touch some more and feel 4 little points on his gum line. Two on the bottom and two on the top. Andrew is cutting 4 teeth! No wonder he is feeling even worse!

As I write this, I hope that we've hit the all time low and it's only up from here. Wish us luck.........

Queen of Hearts...........

Forget being a princess, Lily's going to be a Queen this Halloween!

Birthday Bash with the Buddies!

Today we had the perfect weather for some outdoor fun! One of Lily's best buddies has a birthday 1 week after hers. So we decided to have a very low key, kid party. We borrowed a bouncy house (thanks Lynn!), had some yummy snacks, went on a pumpkin hunt and had a great time. In terms of kid's birthdays, I believe less is definitely more! I've included a few photos (it's hard to take pictures of kids in a bouncy house) and a video. Enjoy!






http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m244/Melissa-n-Bill/?action=view¤t=10-4034.flv

Happy Birthday Lily!

Wow! It's been a whirlwind of activity the past weekend. We celebrated a friend's birthday, had Lily's family birthday celebration and her school celebration. She's had a blast and loves her new bike. It's been such a joy to watch her grow from 1-5, I'm looking forward to the rest of the journey with her. Her are several pictures of our birthday girl!

On the mend

We've all been playing "share the cold" or virus this week. I learned a tough lesson. One sick child is a challenge. Two sick children is really tough. Two sick children and two sick parents is a nightmare. To all my friends who have more than two children.......I simply don't know how you do it.

In the midst of all our sickness, I started meeting with the doctors for Andrew's surgeries. I know he must only have a few minor procedures. Yet when it's your baby, nothing feels minor about it. I feel weepy if I really think about it. He just seem so tiny and the thoughts of anethesia scare me. We have one more appointment and then the surgeries will be scheduled. I'll keep everyone updated.

On another note, today is Lily's 5th birthday! We have our family b-day celebrations today. It should be a good time and I think we all feel good about finally feeling well. I hope to have pictures up a.s.a.p!

Perfect Day at the Zoo

Yesterday, on impulse, I took the kids to the zoo after lunch. It was one of those perfect, sunny, low 70's day with just a hint-of-fall breezes. I wasn't sure how Andrew would do spending a long time in the stroller. Since becoming so mobile (he's really close to walking), he tends to be a body in motion that stays in motion. Plus, he's extremely near sighted and I'm not sure what he can see. He did beautifully and enjoyed it all. We rode the train, went the petting zoo, and spent a good amount of time in the aquarium. It was one of those great days where being a Mom was totally fun. Here are some photos of the kids that I thought were particularily adorable.

Some recent scrapbook layouts......

I'm finding little moments here and there that I can do some scrapbooking. It feels good to get a little caught up and to do something creative. Enjoy!

Nostalgia, Footie Pajamas and Preschool

Last night was unseasonably cold and I felt the need to dig out some footie pajamas for Andrew. As I went through some of Lily's old baby clothes, a wave of nostalgia hit me. We just passed our 4 year anniversary of getting Lily's referral on September 8th. There is something so magical and special about the moment you first get your child's referral. I guarantee if you ask any adoptive parent they can recall all the details the moment they got "the call". So as I dressed Andrew for bed, I just couldn't help but think of the little baby Lily that came home in the late fall of 04. I have so many memories of watching her play, crawl, eat and explore in the same cozy little footie jammies.

Fast forward 4 years and here we are getting her ready for preschool. Instead of crawling around in jammies, we now watch Lily make decisions between her Hanna Montanna or sparkly butterfly shirt. At exactly 7:30 am this morning, Lily came bouncing down the steps. Her bed was made, her face was washed and she was dressed in her new pink velour jumpsuit complete with the sparkly butterfly shirt. "I am ready to go to school by myself" she announced. I was thrilled to see her so ready and very surpised as I am the first to describe Lily as "shy, reserved and slow to warm up." While I drove to the preschool, I could hear Lily telling Andrew about all the cool big kid things that she could do and he could not. We waited a few moments for her teachers to be ready, the door opened and in walked Lily and her new pal Maggie. No tears. No fears. Nothing. I looked at Maggie's mom and said "Well, I guess that's it" and we headed to the "Boo Hoo Breakfast" with the other parents.

I drove Andrew home who was still dressed in the pj's. (I suspect Andrew may be in pj's many mornings when we take Lily to school. I'm simply not confident I can get all three of us dressed and out the door by 8:30.) Once home, I realized I had this wonderful window of time to watch Andrew crawl, play, eat and explore while dressed in his footie pj's. When our one on one time is done, we get to pick up Lily and hear all the details from preschool. Today, she covered everything from what she ate at snack to who played what on the playground. So, I apologize if my post is sappy. I knew it was likely for me to get sentimental when Lily started school. I also realize that there is a special gift in having a second child. You truly understand that no phase lasts forever and it goes by so fast. Right now, I'm going to do my best to enjoy this time of footie pajamas and preschool.

Mr. Grumpy

Yesterday, Andrew was just in a "mood." It happens to us all and he's certainly entitled to have a bad day. In fact, he reminded me of the children's book, "Alexander's No-Good, Rotten, Horrible Day." Unfortunately for Andrew, his mumbling and grumbling makes his parents laugh. Oh, and I have to say that I was happy to at least hear a better variety of sounds vs the consistent "pfffffffffftttt." Too bad he looks so mad as he's chatting away!

Pffffffffffffffffttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!

Well, I'm a speech pathologist and all my son wants to do is say "pfffffffffftttttt." His idea of a great time is to blow rasperries and to stand. If he can do both simultaneously, it makes him giddy. Ah, the joy of being 8months old!

Subtle Changes are the Best Changes

Having adopted twice, I realize there are some very special aspects about the way our family is formed. Right now, we are experiencing one of those "hidden" benefits. Due to the nature of international adoption, our children have to go through sudden and profound change. As adoptive parents, most of go into this transition with a "prepare for the worst and hope for the best" attitude. As I've said throughout this blog, Andrew has really done beautifully with all the changes. Yet, even with such a smooth transition, we still are seeing Andrew's comfort level grow as he settles in even more. While they may not be earth shattering changes, seeing a child relax, realize this is "home" and become super comfortable is a very special thing.

For example, when Andrew wakes up in the morning, I can tell he knows where he is. There is no more looking around the room quickly, trying to gather it all in. When he takes his bottle, he no longer attacks it and holds onto it with dear life. In fact, now he eats a few ounces, stops looks around and then casually returns to filling his belly. When I start to rock him to sleep at night, he doesn't fight it as much. He arches his back momentarily and then relaxes. It's almost as if he's saying "Ok, I'll sleep, if you insist", which I do. When our cat, Allie, walks by he no longer looks at me as if to say "What the heck is that???". He now happily gurgles and lunges for her tail. Well, maybe that's not the greatest thing.

I probably can't relay this very well in a post. There is just something so sweet in seeing all these subtle changes. He is happy in our daily routine of play time, walks, and baths. His smiles and giggles come quickly. He "gets" that we are Mom, Dad and Big Sister. Perhaps my most favorite thing is when I hold him, he snuggles in more, melts in my arms and even sighs. It doesn't get better than that does it?

I'll leave you with a couple of favorite photos I snapped this week and a short little video. Enjoy!

Apples and Back to School

As you can see I finally had a little time to do some of my favorite hobby of scrapbooking and blog designing. I saw this apple themed digital kit and just knew I had to use it. After working in the schools for 13 years, I have participated in countless apple activities in the fall including cooking projects, art activities and orchard visits. Now I always associate this time of the year with apples. Given my leave, I may miss some of these activities and perhaps that is why I'm compelled to use this design.

Speaking of back to school, Lily is gearing up for preschool. In just a few short weeks, she's going to venture off to get her first taste of classroom life. I'm happy for her as I really think she's ready academically and socially. Yet I find myself doing that classic mommy stuff and thinking "Wow, my baby is really growing up." I'm sure that will hit me 10x's more next year as she ventures of to kindergarten as that is a much bigger milestone.

Andrew had a rougher last week. Nothing major, just fussier than usual. I think it could be due to some teething (lots of drooling, lots of chewing) or his first round of vaccinations. He had a low grade fever and was crabby. It may also be him transitioning from 2 afternoon naps down to one longer afternoon nap. Heck, it may just be his comfort levels growing and him feeling like he can show all sides of his personality, even his grumpy side. I am not sure and it's just so hard to tell with babies. On a positive note, he's growing like a weed. The nutritionist at the International Adoption clinic was extremely concerned about his weight. Well in 5 weeks home, he's gained 2 pounds 6 ounces and grown 3 centimeters. Maybe he's not destined to be such a little peanut after all!

All in all, things continue to go well and we are enjoying the end of the summer time/back to school time in our live.

take care,
Melissa

So much to share, so little time to write

I used to wonder why folks would check into blogs so much when people were waiting to adopt their babies, but then the readership dramatically dropped off. I am now reminded by the fact that new parents have much less time to write and post pictures.



A lot has happened since my last post. We officially celebrated Andrew being home for a whole month. It's hard to believe how fast time flies. It's also weird how it feels as if Andrew has been with us forever.

We also readopted Andrew in our state. We are fortunate that this is a simple procedure in our state. This now means that Andrew has a state birth certificate which may be easier to use when he is school age. It would be easier to replace if it's lost or damaged. It also means he's guaranteed access to an inheritance when we pass. I've always thought it was weird that may even be an issue. The thing I was most happy about is that it's the final piece of paperwork we have to do. I actually said this at the court and all the clerks were like "Don't say that! There are so many children in this world to adopt." Sadly, that's true, but I'm not sure we are going to be adding to our family. I guess never say never, but it's hard to imagine that we will. Anyway, here's a picture of our family and the judge.



Bill's birthday was last week. I took the kids down and we had a picnic on the State House lawn. It was a gorgeous day and Bill had a great time showing off the kids to his co-workers. My favorite part was Lily calling the cupcakes, "pupcakes."
Here are some photos.





Lastly, the school year is kicking off. Lily will be starting preschool this year and I'm in that traditional role. I can't believe my baby is ready to start school. It's weird for me to not be gearing up for school. I'm happily off on leave and I found out that I'm elligible for more leave than I thought. My administration at work has reviewed and changed some old rules. Leave now officially starts at the beginning of the school year, not when your baby is born or adopted. What a family friendly decision! So, I now have 6 additional weeks of enjoying my sweeties. Aren't they adorable?